A typical acoustic guitar has a hollow body connected to a neck. The hollow body has a soundboard with a soundhole, a backboard spaced from the soundboard, and a shaped sidewall which connects between the soundboard and backboard. Typically, these components are constructed of choice pieces of wood in order to produce instruments of superior quality.
The acoustic guitar has a series of strings strung at substantial tension from a bridge on the soundboard, across the soundhole, and along the neck. The string tension creates forces which act on the soundboard and which, over time, can cause bending, cracking or other damage to the soundboard. The damage can result in structural failure and altered intonation of the acoustic guitar.
In high quality acoustic guitars, the soundboard must be capable of sufficient vibration to provide superior acoustic performance while being sufficiently rigid so that it withstands the forces created by the tensioned strings. These requirements are at cross-purposes, and heretofore have been very difficult to achieve, particularly when the soundboard is constructed from a material other than choice wooden materials.
Prior art designs have attempted to improve upon the strength and durability of acoustic guitars without adversely affecting its playing qualities. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,958 issued to Dresdner et al. and assigned to the assignee of the present application discloses an acoustic guitar assembly having a wooden soundboard with an improved soundboard bracing structure and an improved neck to body joint.
Prior art designs have also attempted to construct an acoustic guitar from relatively inexpensive, non-wooden materials. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,874 issued to Witchel discloses a stringed instrument having a hollow body constructed of sheets of synthetic resin laminates, such as, melamine impregnated resins impressed over phenolic craft layers.
Therefore, although the above-mentioned acoustic guitar assemblies accomplish their intended purposes, there is a need for a high quality, durable acoustic guitar which is constructed from inexpensive materials. In particular, the soundboard should be made of a non-wooden material which is capable of vibrating and providing superior acoustic performance and which is capable of withstanding the forces created by the tensioned strings.